Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to reflect that the National Elk Refuge is not open to shed antler hunting during any time of the year. The road adjacent to the refuge opens to traffic on May 1 and is a popular access point to Bridger-Teton National Forest.
JACKSON, Wyo. — The Jackson Police Department has created a new application process for those wishing to participate in the annual antler shed on the Bridger-Teton National Forest when the National Elk Refuge Road opens to traffic on May 1.
On the Refuge, it is illegal to take, collect, retrieve, possess, or transport any natural product, including shed antlers, from the Refuge at any time of the year.
Shed hunting opens May 1 every year and as the pastime has grown in popularity, JPD has taken extra steps to regulate the department-led motorcade to the Elk Refuge Road, a popular access point for Bridger-Teton National Forest.
As in years past, participants will be placed in sequential order and led, via motorcade, by JPD to the Elk Refuge Road. Shed antler collection and the refuge road will remain closed until 6 a.m. on May 1 when the hunt begins.
The lineup order is based on the order applications are received by the town.
The application is currently live on the Town’s website through April 15 at midnight.
The Jackson Ranger District of the Bridger-Teton National Forest, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services each have specific regulations surrounding shed collecting and access to areas of shed collection.
